Ask three Edinburgh builders what a new bathroom costs and you'll get three different answers, mostly because they're pricing three different jobs. The honest range for a full refit in the city sits somewhere between £5,000 and £15,000 plus VAT, and where you land depends far more on your building than your taste in tiles. Here's what actually moves the number.
These are labour and materials for a standard 2m x 2.5m bathroom, stripped back to the walls and rebuilt. They assume the layout stays broadly where it is and no structural work is needed.
Sanitaryware is where budgets swing hardest. A complete high street suite with a shower over the bath can be had for £700 to £1,200, while a walk-in wetroom with a decent thermostatic mixer and a frameless screen rarely leaves change from £2,500 on materials alone.
Tenement flats bring a set of costs that simply don't exist in a 1990s semi. Lath and plaster walls often crumble when you strip tiles off them, so what was quoted as a tile removal becomes a full reboard and skim. Original timber floors need checking for rot around the old soil connection before anything watertight goes down.
Access matters too. A third floor flat off a Marchmont stair means every bag of waste comes down by hand and every sheet of plasterboard goes up the same way. Most builders build a day or so of labour into the price for this, and parking permits in the New Town or Bruntsfield add real cost across a two week job.
If you're in a listed building or a conservation area, changing anything visible from the street, an external soil pipe or a new extract vent for example, may need consent from the council. That's worth checking before work starts rather than halfway through.
The parts you never see often decide whether a bathroom lasts fifteen years or leaks in three. Tanking a wetroom properly costs £400 to £900 and is not optional if you're losing the tray. Replacing old lead or steel supply pipework with plastic or copper adds £300 to £800, and it's common in pre 1930s stock.
Electrics are the other one to plan for. Any new lighting, extractor or shower circuit needs to be certified, and in a flat with an ageing consumer unit you may need that upgraded first at £450 to £700. A qualified electrician's certificate is what your insurer and any future buyer will want to see.
A quote that's noticeably cheaper than the others usually has less in it, not better value. Before comparing, check each one specifies the same scope so you're looking at like for like.
Ask for a payment schedule tied to stages rather than a large deposit up front, and expect a realistic timeline. A full refit is typically eight to twelve working days with a day or two of drying time built in for screed and tanking.
For most refits yes, provided the builder has seen the room and you've chosen your fittings. The honest exception is hidden condition behind old walls and floors, which is usually handled as a stated day rate or an agreed allowance rather than a guess.
A like for like replacement generally doesn't, but forming a new bathroom, altering drainage or making structural changes may require a warrant from the City of Edinburgh Council. It's worth a quick call to Building Standards if your plans go beyond a straight refit.
Plan for the room to be unusable for the full duration, typically eight to twelve working days for a standard refit. If it's your only bathroom, arranging washing facilities elsewhere for that period saves a lot of stress.